Thread: Vitamins? Multi-vitamin? Prenatal?

all vitamins are not the same. and i would say most multivitamins are better than most prenatals, as prenatals are usually "cheaply" thrown together with inexpensive synthetic ingredients and mostly not complete. with multivitamins you have to watch the vitamin A content as you don't want more than 5000 ius to prevent birth defects, or preferably it should be made of betacarotene. Most multi's have way too much vitamin A for pregnant women. and you want a prenatal with Folate, instead of Folic acid. the latter is synthetic and 25% can't absorb it, leaving toxic levels of Folic acid unabsorbed. in the general population Folic Acid fortification of white processed grains is now increasing cancer risk. So Europe won't fortify their grains, despite improved rates of birth defects. in addition most prenatals are not complete. Nutrition is sort of like a cake recipe: if you need 31 ingredients/ nutrients (including omega fatty acids DHA & EPA from fish) you can't exclude any of them or you won't have the same cake, or in this cake the healthiest baby possible. Nutrients work together, when anything is missing, you toxic levels of some and deficiencies in others.. ie: Folate can't work without B6, B12, iron, selenium, C, D, choline, copper, protein, and all other B vitamins (12 of them)etc.... Calcium can't work with out vitamin D, C, magnesium, Boron, phosphate, copper etc...and calcium is best taken at night when actually does it's job while you sleep. and to reduce chances of constipation calcium Citrate is your best option. NOT carbonate.
fish oils do a much better job for babies brain and visual development than plant omegas including Flax. in canine reproduction flax is not recommended at all as it can cause miscarriage. there is no human info on this, but when my vet was pregnant she avoided all flax, soy, primrose oils for their estrogentic effects. also other so-called "plant omegas" from kelp are processed with Hexane, a neurological toxin and by product of petrochemicals. the cornucopia institute has found all sorts of problems with plant DHA's in infant formulas. also omega's need to come in both DHA and EPA as they work together (as found in fish). and without the B vitamin Choline omegas won't work as well. the only really complete and all natural prenatal is the Healthy Baby vitamins. expectingfitness .com

Originally Posted by LanaBear

Either or IMO. It's fine to start taking a prenatal now or a multi vitamin. Brand wise, it doesn't really matter, they all pretty much have the same stuff in them.

Good luck!

What does “TTC and IMO” mean?
Many thanks

I have 2 kids. i had lot of problems with my first pregnancy because i was not taking any vitamins till i got pregnant. so second time i wanted to make sure i eat right and take good vitamins before 6 months of planning.but i didn't know where to start. Thats when i met my friend who is a nutritionist explained to me about the importance of organic vitamins , weight loss and eating right. she told that i need to be in optimum weight for my height and eat balanced diet with folic acid rich food and supplement with good organic vitamins. as per recommendation i bought the vitamins from this website (edit outbound link) womens supplement and iron folic

i was so happy to do it because i had a wonderful second pregnancy with no complications and my daughter was very healthy .

i hope this will help you. Good luck.

Yes starting with a great pre-natal vitamin before getting pregnant is a great start for you and your baby to be. Start looking at labels. You will find that most brands have are similar in the amount and type of vitamins they have in them. Folic Acid is very important.

Good luck, you are in for the ride of a lifetime.